Seven arrested in Garmiyan following complaint by Russian energy giant: Local police

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Seven people were arrested in Garmiyan administration following an alleged complaint by a major Russian energy company located nearby, a police spokesperson told Rudaw on Monday, a day after protests reportedly disrupted the company’s work.

A group of people protested in Garmiyan’s Milqasim village on Sunday, decrying the lack of employment opportunities. The protesters reportedly blocked the roads, preventing incoming fuel tanks from reaching a Gazprom Neft oil field, according to the spokesperson of Garmiyan’s police Ali Jamal Qaduri. 

Qaduri also stated that the gas company had filed complaints against nine of the protesters for obstructing the company’s operations.

“They created problems for the company and caused a disruption in the oil company’s works,” said Qaduri, adding that seven out of the nine had been arrested. 

Rudaw English reached out to Gazprom Neft on Monday evening but they were not immediately available. 

Protests are not uncommon in Garmiyan, and have previously disrupted the passage of oil tankers in Garmiyan, with a similar incident taking place last summer. Some protests in the administration have been more violent and unrelated to oil operations. A municipality building in the administration’s town of Kalar was set ablaze during protests over the delay in salary payments in 2020.

Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, and Rosneft are some of the major Russian oil and gas companies operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed contracts with giant Russian oil and gas firms in 2014 and 2017 to work in several oilfields across the Region, implementing geological exploration programs and exporting crude oil.

Russian oil company Gazprom Neft began drilling an exploration well at the Shakal block in the Kurdistan Region in 2014.

Moscow and the Kurdistan Region enjoy good relations, especially in the energy sector. In December, the Russian presidential envoy to the Middle East met with Kurdish officials in Erbil where both sides advocated for stronger ties.